Dirty Claus

“Milk?” she asks like a traditional assistant might ask if I want coffee.

“Always,” I say. So the storytellers got it right, I love milk, sue me.

“Coming right up. If I may say so, you are looking tired. You should rest up for the big day.”

“Gee thanks,” I say sourly.

“I am sorry if I overstepped, sir, I felt that it needed to be said.”

“Don’t worry about it, Aelrie. You're not the first person to say that to me today.”

“Again, I am sorry. I’ll get these over to processing right away and have Aenwyn bring in your milk. Will there be anything else right now?”

“That will be all. Thank you. Wait who is Aenwyn?” I ask, the name both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. My tongue tingled when I said it.

“New maiden. Arrived from Reykjavík two weeks ago.”

“Very well,” I reply, pushing the new maiden from my mind. She’s got to be the worst assistant in the world if she’s been here for two weeks and I’ve yet to meet her.

I spend the rest of the day dealing with little stuff as it crosses my desk. Then I stare at the map, nothing jumping out at me like it did Jensynn. I pretty much knew things wouldn’t be that easy for me, but I had to try. Every so often I stare at the map and again, nothing.

At the end of the day, I throw the damn dart.

Guess where it fucking lands? Here. The North damn pole. Not for the first time, I wonder if I am going to be alone forever.

Fuck this shit.

Chapter 2

Aenwyn

“Master Claus will take his milk now,” Aelrie says startling me after coming into her own damn office. The same small office where I’ve set up camp until my desk is located. It was taken from my nice office the second day I was here. Hazing is alive and well up here. Mentally, I shake my head. One of the very first things I was told was how the master takes his milk. Like that’s even important or what I’m here for. They found a niche in this winter wonderland. I haven’t even met the man yet but I can tell you anything you want to know about him. Such as his idea of a fun Friday night consists of a fire and a puzzle. He does sudoku for fun and loves children, obviously.

“Of course,” I reply, jumping up from my chair. I have no idea what to call her. As my boss, it should be Aelrie but as an unmarried maiden it’s not respectful to call her anything other than “ma’am” which she hates, so I usually don’t call her anything.

I get up and head to the break room. The fresh ice-cold milk is ready to be poured into his preferred frozen beer mug that I pull from the freezer. I pour the milk and place it on the steel tray, to keep my hot hands off it. I have exactly three minutes to get it to his hands because he likes it cold, cold. Like negative fifteen degrees, Iceland kind of cold.

I hope he’s not as intimidating as he seems. I don’t understand why I was transferred here from Iceland. There I was in receiving and I never, ever dealt with people. I’m forty years old and haven’t dealt with people in many, many years. The head office usually forgets about us, but for some reason, I got a transfer that I didn’t request. I thought I was being punished for some unknown offense. Instead of questioning it, I packed up my sad life there and started a sad life here. The tiny apartments could have been right next to each other instead of 5018 km a part.

My parents had already moved here last year but I couldn’t live with them again. They are the best parents a girl could ask for, but I am my own person and they are in the empty nest stage of their lives. I can’t unhear something like that so I am not putting myself in a situation together. They have been mated for so long I am not sure they could be two separate beings anymore.

Walking toward his office, my nerves start to get the better of me. I raise my to knock but before I can the door opens.

He’s not looking at me, but I do manage to move out of his way thus saving the damn milk.

“Aelrie!” he bellows, sending a shiver down my spine. He doesn’t look anything like I expected. His long, silvery white hair is pulled back from his face. His skin tight jeans look like they were made specifically for him and please, please can we talk about the ripped Foreigner concert tee he’s wearing? I have no doubt he was actually at the show in question Rock Cirkus II in Alberta, Canada. He looks every bit the king of the castle. We are still a few feet apart but I want to step closer to him.